New Delhi: The newly appointed head of the Censor Board Pankaj Nihalani is the elder brother of eminent director Govind Nihalani, and has produced films like Aankhen, Talaash: The Hunt Begins and Shola Aur Shabnam.

The members of the new CBFC board include BJP leader Vani Tripathi Tikoo and writer Mihir Bhuta, who has penned a book Samaajik Samrasta, based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speeches and writings.

The appointments are for three years or until further orders, sources said.

The appointments were necessitated after CBFC chairperson Leela Samson, resigned amid controversy surrounding the clearance of controversial film Messenger of God featuring Dera Saccha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

In a letter, the nine members — Arundhati Nag, Ira Bhaskar, Lora Prabhu, Pankaj Sharma, Rajeev Masand, Sekharbabu Kancherla, Shaji Karun, Shubhra Gupta and T.G. Thyagarajan also submitted their resignations.

The government, led by I&B minister Arun Jaitley and minister of state Rajyavardhan S. Rathore, maintained that it does not interfere in the film certification process and re-butted the charges levelled by Ms Samson.